Haruko hurries her way to the hospital after school is out. Haruko sees the slim tall girl stretching on the bench near the bus stop before the hospital. Haruko approaches the bus stop and shyly says:
“Excuse me, are you Hasegawa-Tsuki-chan?”
“Yes, but have we met?” Tsuki answers with questions filled in her mind.
“I saw you coming into the hospital this morning. Are you feeling much better now?”
“Yeah, much better, thanks. So do you know who sent me to the hospital this morning?”
“Uh-huh, I know this person. He goes to my school.” Haruko’s cheeks grow red as she answers.
“Oh, I am so glad! Now can you bring me to the hero who rescued me? Umm…”
“Haruko, Akagi Haruko.”
“Hi, I am Hasegawa Tsuki. Pleasure to meet you, Haruko-chan.” Tsuki smiles joyfully.
Haruko was worried about Tsuki when she first saw Tsuki lying on the gurney this morning. Tsuki’s pale face and slim body had given Haruko the impression of malnutrition and weak. But the first impression of Tsuki in Haruko’s mind is now swept clean. Now Tsuki appears to be a tall athlete who has an incredible smile.
----
Sakuragi feels awfully happy today. Rukawa forfeited in the challenge this morning by not showing up. Sakuragi is about to brag his success to everyone when Haruko shows up with a new girl. He then runs over to Haruko and greets her politely.
“Good afternoon, Haruko-chan.”
“Good afternoon, Sakuragi-kun.”
“Is this your good friend #3?” Sakuragi asks as he peeks at Tsuki lightly.
“This is Tsuki-chan. She is a new friend of mine. She is here for Rukawa-kun.”
“Haruko-chan, let me tell you something, I defeated that fox this morning.”
Haruko doubts for a while because she knows that Rukawa was not at the basketball court this morning.
Mitsui overhears the conversation and adds in:
“I say, Sakuragi, you should stop making up stories and do more practice. You will never beat Rukawa if you don’t practice.”
“Shut up, Mitchi. You don’t know a thing. That fox has already accepted the fact that I am much better than him indeed. I am a tensai. You should start by understanding the meaning of your existence, which is to worship me. Ha…ha…ha…”
Captain Akagi comes in and gives Sakuragi a bump on his head. He yells:
“Sakuragi, do your drills! You think you’re good enough to compete against all the strong teams in the IH? Shut up and practice!”
Akagi continues as he sees the absence of Rukawa:
“What happens to Rukawa? Everyone needs to show up on time. IH is only four weeks away!”
----
The first thing that Rukawa hears when he comes in is the loud laughter from Sakuragi. Rukawa knows he can’t avoid hearing the long boasting from the red hair monkey because of the forfeiture this morning. But he does not regret, and he doesn’t feel the need to explain anything to anybody.
----
Haruko walks toward Rukawa before the team starts practicing. She looks down on the ground because she is too shy to look at Rukawa’s face. And the fact is, Rukawa would not even look at her carefully. But he notices that the other girl walking toward him is the girl from this morning. Rukawa only glances at Tsuki for a fraction of a second then walks off.
Tsuki feels a bit humiliated but she starts anyway:
“Rukawa-kun! My name is Hasegawa Tsuki. I am sorry about making you forfeit your game, but thanks for saving my life this morning.”
Then she turns to Haruko and says:
“Haruko-chan, thanks for bringing me here. I have track and field practice today, so I better leave now.”
“Bye everyone!” Tsuki salutes to everybody then leave.
After Tsuki has left, Ayako comments:
“Rukawa, she is such a nice girl. No wonder you would forfeit a game to save her.”
Sakuragi adds in:
“Ayako-chan, you don’t know anything. That fox did not show up because he was afraid of me, the Tensai.”
Rukawa then responds:
“No, because you are not worthy of my sleeping time.”
As usual, Rukawa has not said another word for the entire day.